A Food Blog with Personality

London

Anyone who loves food, or indeed anyone who has ever been to Borough Market, will be aware of Padella. It’s hard to miss the huge queues that start to snake around the market during the afternoon, just as it is difficult to ignore the tantalizing smells of garlic, of Parmesan. It’s also pretty difficult to miss the happy and satisfied faces of the people who managing to wait out the queue and snap up a much coveted table.

Obviously, me being me, I become obsessed with going. And I hate queuing. I mean, there’s no way I’m going to spend my rare free Saturdays (I have potentially under a year to go before I reclaim my weekends back from studying – what will I do with all that time?!) queuing for lunch. I also have a teensy tendency to get a little hangry, so I can’t imagine W would be too happy for me to queue for potentially 2+ hours either! With that in mind, and a random Monday booked off work, we set about a day of foodie-touristing in London. 1 day, several restaurants with no-booking policies and an ice-cream exhibition (Scoop is well worth a trip, even if just to stand in a freezer during this heatwave!).

So, is Padella worth the hype?

Short answer = YES!. Long answer = see below.

We started with Burrata, something which I’ve wanted to try forever, but which neither of us had ever actually ordered before. I’m fairly sure it’s now my go-to summer starter if I see it on the menu. Stretchy mozzarella, balancing the line between chewy and non-rubbery perfectly, with a just liquid, just oozing centre. Sat in a oil of fruity olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and served with well-baked bread, this is heaven on a plate. It was rich, creamy, cheesy and yet surprisingly light.

And then came the pasta. The star of the show. W ordered the daily special, which was delicate pasta parcels filled with a rabbit mix. The rabbit was tender, lightly shredded, with some soft vegetables in there. The flavours balanced bold yet subtle. Nothing overtook the rabbit, yet the whole dish shone. There was nowhere for the pasta to hide with this dish, yet it was clear it was expertly made.

I plumped for the Tagliarini with Exmouth Mussels, Chilli, Garlic and Oregano. And oh my! I’ve eaten a lot of pasta dishes in my time, and this is by far and away one of the best. It beats any pasta I ate in Rome hands down, with only a single dish in Venice remaining unbeaten. Pasta in the UK hasn’t come close to this so far, and I could have eaten it day after day. Soft, silky and extremely delicate pasta strands in the most fragrant of seafood sauces, small but plump mussels, and just the right level of chilli and garlic. It was sweet, it was savoury, it was absolutely delicious.

And then we finished with Lemon Tart. I thought it couldn’t get any better, but this was a fine example of a lemon tart. Very zingy, just the right amount of sweetness, and very well balanced with a dollop of creme fraiche. We shared this, but I regret the decision to share. Next time I’m keeping it all for myself.

So is Padella worth the hype, worth the queue? I hate to say it, but yes. I don’t think I’d risk queuing on a weekend, and I’d highly advise turning up before they open and planning on an early lunch. We joined the queue at around 11.35, they opened at noon, and we were seated just before 12.30. Service was pleasant, not at all rushed, and prices were surprisingly reasonable with our meal coming to just over £30 including service. I’d happily pay that for my pasta dish alone. That’s how much I loved it.

I’m pretty sure anyone who’s ever visited Borough Market will have ooh-ed and ahh-ed at Bread Ahead’s doughnuts. Possibly bought one, possibly snapped a picture of these utterly-Instagrammable pillows of joy. They are a bit of an icon in London, and rightly so. Sure, we’ve had a few more doughnut shops pop up over the last year or so, but these aren’t sickly-sweet. These are made over two days, with a well-flavoured dough and perfectly thought out fillings. They’re super-freshly made, with thousands being made a day. And I highly, highly recommend you pick one up the next time you’re in Borough Market.

We, however, went one step further than just buying the doughnuts.

Yep, we went to one of Bread Ahead’s workshops and learnt how to make them. Justin Gellatly was our tutor for the class, so that caused a massive fan-girl moment by yours truly!

It might take a full two days to produce one of these doughnuts, but the course is very cleverly squeezed into a few (delicious) hours. We first use some dough that has been ready-made by the team, and learn how to roll the perfect doughnuts. All Bread Ahead doughnuts are rolled by hand, and it’s definitely harder than it looks… We popped them on to prove, and then go going with actually making a batch of dough.

As someone who shies away from enriched dough and kneading in general (there’s a reason I love Jame’s Morton’s bread recipes, and it’s that I rarely need to get my hands dirty!), I was nervous about making this dough – however it has actually made me a lot more confident. Who knew a pinch of lemon zest could prevent the dough from getting overly greasy?! With the dough popped in the fridge, we got on with fillings – some of the 14 strong class demonstrating how to make honeycomb and custards. We then got to sample a doughnut cooked in from of us by Justin, still hot from the fryer. I’m not sure doughnuts will ever, ever be the same again…

After a quick coffee break, we got on with frying our own shaped doughnuts, before sugar bombing them in the largest bowl of sugar I’d ever, ever seen. It was then time to pipe in the fillings, a process that got messy, sticky and ended up with an awful lot of the caramel custard ending up in my mouth rather than my doughnut (#sorrynotsorry). We left the class with a bag of goodies each – 6 freshly made doughnuts (plus an extra we’d squeezed out from some leftover dough), a pot of dough for another six doughnuts, and 2 big bags of honeycomb.

Oh, and we bought a deep fat fryer on the way home purely for making more doughnuts. We’re nothing if not committed!

At £80 per person this class was far from cheap, but it was without doubt the best cookery class I’ve ever, ever done. It was very hands-on, we got lots of delicious goodies, and we came away feeling confident in making enriched dough, in deep-frying, in making custard, and with a doughnut addiction. I’d highly recommend a class, though they book up wayyyy in advance!

*Disclaimer – this workshop was paid for by myself as part of my fiance’s birthday present, and I wasn’t asked to write a review (we just had a fab time and I wanted to share!). I am, however, due to be working with Bread Ahead on a little review opportunity over the summer as a result of my Instagram posts following this workshop. All opinions, as always, are my own!

Having stuck loyally to a certain brunch place in Putney since Summer ’16, my birthday gave me the excuse to branch out a little. Now. there’s absolutely nothing wrong with The Dynamo and it’s probably still my favourite spot (given the fact that it’s significantly closer and also does pizza!) but I kinda fancied something new.

There’s a couple of other places I’ve love to try, but with things to do and places to be we needed somewhere we could book a table and served a decent menu pre-10am. A surprisingly difficult criteria, but Antipodea on the Lower Richmond Road managed to meet it and I’d seen it look cutely decorated with fairy-lights the other month. And so come 9am on the 24th birthday, we were legging it down the road, late for our booking and cursing that it’s a good 25 minutes brisk walk away.

We needn’t have worried about being late – the staff were welcoming and friendly, once they’d stop laughing at the performance I’d made trying to get the folding door open. Shown to a little table tucked in a corner, complete with comfy armchairs, I’d already made up my mind. I liked this place.

Drinks were ordered and arrived swiftly. My Mörk hot chocolate was dark and hearty, without being overly rich. It’s not a hot chocolate for everyone (it’s certainly not thick, sweet or creamy) but I loved it. There was no complaints about the decaf mocha either.

One of the things I love about The Dynamo is their short and sweet brunch menu (though it has now grown and I need to get down there and try some of the new dishes!). Antipodea is the opposite – the brunch menu is HUGE and I deliberated for a good ten minutes between a couple of options. There’s the usual standard breakfast grub, sweet treats and some more unusual items. Turkish Eggs appears to be the new ‘thing’ in London right now and their Instagram suggests these are pretty damn good ones…

In the end, though, I couldn’t resist pancakes. And it was my birthday. Blueberry Pancakes, served with Caramelised Banana, Creme Fraiche and Maple Syrup was exactly the sugar fix I was in the mood for. Perhaps slightly too heavy on the syrup (though better than not having enough!), these pancakes were DELICIOUS. Thick and fluffy, but still decently caramelised on the outside. Not stodgy in the slightest. I could have eaten two platefuls!

W’s breakfast made me wish I wasn’t allergic to tomatoes, though he said he wished it had a bit more of a kick – some more bacon perhaps. Especially as the bacon there was delicious, smoked-in-house and apparently rather yummy. He ordered the Smokey Bacon Boston Beans, which came looking perfectly Instagrammable and with the most delicious sourdough. I’m actually *really* hoping their bread isn’t made in-house as I’d love to be able to buy a loaf for lazy weekend breakfast in beds…

Whilst the food wasn’t anything overly special, it was certainly yummy. But for me it was the atmosphere and service which really made this place. It was relaxed, all the staff had a smile on their face and it just felt comfortable. I wonder if they’ll mind me heading down there for a few hours to study…?!

So I’ve done the ‘home cooking’ bucket list, now it’s time for the UK version. Here’s a collection of the restaurants and places I most want to visit in the UK – by no means is it everything on my list, because that would be a VERY long blog post!

Instead this was just me sitting down for 5 minutes and listing down everything that first jumped into my head – because that’s probably the ones I want to do most, right?! Though realistically if I could just eat everything that would be wonderful…

Eat Lobster on the beach in North Berwick. This particular beach holds a special place in my heart, and I just know it would be a perfect meal.

Try the Hallomi Fries at KERB. My Instagram feed was full of them over the summer and they looked so damn tasty!

Eat at Wood Manchester. I actually met Simon (winner of 2015’s Masterchef) a few weeks back at an event run by Magnet kitchens. He was as lovely as he seemed on the show, and the dishes he cooked up were simply delicious – scallops and dahl, 18-hour pork belly, mackerel with goats curd and beetroot. I can only imagine what his restaurant’s food is like!

Head back to Pump Street Bakery for another doughnut. That’s how good it was!

Try some proper Ramen. Send me recommendations asap!

A foodie trip to Wales. I’ve been following Gourmet Gorro for a while and the restaurants he eats at make me jealous for two reasons. One, the food looks delicious. Two, the prices are insane compared to what I’m used to in London.

Try alllllll the burgers. Shake Shack, Bleecker Street and Patty & Bun are all vying for my next visit!

Eat pasta from a “bowl” of cheese. You can thank Rosie for that craving…

Taste of London. A place where some of London’s best restaurant’s come together under one roof. Somewhere where I can try several of the places on my list in one go – a small plate at each, making a decisive about how quickly I need to tick them off properly. Basically Taste of London is my dream way to spend a few hours.

There was everything there. Every type of food you could imagine. Chinese dumplings which smelt INSANELY good. Classic French. Cheese. Indian. Thai. Everything. I quickly instructed W that we would share everything so we could try more things – a plan I’d highly recommend. I’m only gutted that we arrived already feeling pretty stuffed from a festive cookery class with AEG (more to come on that one!).

We started by trying to have a wander and gauge what was about. Spoiler: we failed miserably. Going onto the site afterwards to try and write this post I realised just how many places I wanted to go to. Bubbledogs and Kricket both got missed which I’m pretty damn gutted about!

First to be ticked off was Bao, which has been on my list to try for what feels like forever. The Fried Chicken Bao
(soy milk marinated chicken, Sichuan mayo, kimchi, coriander) was everything I hoped for. A little on the small side for £6 perhaps, but full of flavour. The chicken was both crunchy and moist, and the sauce spicy and sweet. The Bao bun was also delicious and it’s pushed the place further up my list.

We then wandered off to find the dish that, for me, turned out to be the dish of the night. Farang’s Roasted Peach Massaman Curry (seasoned with peanuts, sweet basil and wild ginger) was utterly amazing. Sweet, salty, spicy and perfectly balanced. How they managed to keep the fruit so perfectly cooked is beyond me. Damn good and something I’ve been craving all week.

We took a quick break from the savoury options and headed over to Action Against Hunger’s Doughnut stall. We split two options. The Peter Gordon (pear and ginger compote stuffed doughnut
crunchy maple cornflakes, basil icing) was absolutely delicious whilst the Dan Doherty (coffee, Amaretto and almond) was a tad too sweet for my taste. Both good though, and better than quite a few doughnuts I’ve tried recently!

It was then time to hit The Cheese Bar. We picked up their Four Cheese Truffled Macaroni Cheese and it was…okay. If I’m honest I was disappointed – it lacked a real cheesy depth of flavour, and I didn’t really taste a huge amount of truffle either. It wasn’t bad, and maybe I’d have enjoyed it more had I not been totally and utterly stuffed. Their grilled cheese looked pretty epic though! This is definitely a place I want to visit to see what they can do…

Our final dish was one which confused me. Moro serve North African and Spanish dishes and the flavours in our pick were certainly good. Grilled quail with beetroot borani and pistachio sauce balanced on a fine line of freshness and richness. It was herby and vibrant, so colourful, but utterly filling. Our real complaint was that it was impossible to eat with plastic cutlery on a paper plate.

And with that we left. Clutching our bellies, it was a long tube journey home!

Unfortunately Taste of London was limited to one weekend, and one weekend only, but the good news? They’ll be back! From the 13-17th of June they’ll be in Regents Park and I’ll definitely be there – and starting with an empty belly this time…

*I received two tickets and some meal vouchers as part of an AEG event, however was under no obligation to write this post – I loved the evening and wanted to share all the delicious food!

So, this could quite possibly be the quickest I’ve *ever* typed up a post, edited photos and got it live on the blog. I guess that pretty much sums up how awesome my Tuesday was!

Having kindly been invited to volunteer as part of Wok for 1000, I was expecting to spend my day perhaps washing up, maybe doing a spot of pan-stirring, possibly some onion slicing. The reality, however, was completely different. Sure I sliced a lot of onions, and I *think* I stirred a pan at one point. I didn’t do any washing up, I ate some delicious food, I taught some knife skills (and practised my first-aid when said teaching didn’t quite go to plan). Under the watchful eye of the school of wok‘s Jeremy Pang, who is as utterly as adorable in real life as I had imagined, 200 volunteers donned (paper) chef hats (plastic) aprons and crowded into Borough Market this morning for a cause that is particularly close to my heart.

Food Waste is something I’m passionate about. Read: I loathe it. It makes me sick with anger to think about the ridiculous amounts of food that households in this country throw away, let alone restaurants, shops, office canteens. There’s very often nothing wrong with said food, and there’s so many people who would be unbelievably grateful for it. When it’s for a homeless shelter, or donated to the elderly struggling to survive on a basic pension, or to replace a (let’s face it) substandard hospital meal, all of this food could come in so useful. This is where Plan Zheroes come in. Their aim is to eradicate food waste in London by connecting businesses with excess food to charities in need of food. Kinda like Tinder for leftovers (the kind of Tinder I could appreciate!).

Wok for 1000 not only aims at promoting both Plan Zheroes and their supported charities, but also at beating hunger across the city. The aim was to prep, cook and deliver 1000 meals to those in need – and not only did we achieve this, but we smashed through the target. At final count before I left, the meals were counted at roughly 1400. For just a few hours work, a few leftover ingredients, that’s amazing. Just think about what we could achieve if more people took these ‘waste’ ingredients and transformed them into a meal for their community.

Throughout the day we were treated to demos by Jeremy himself, including a tutorial on how to hold and use the (frankly terrifying) knives used in Chinese cooking. The result is that they are surprisingly easy to use, the knives I currently own are far too blunt, and I want one in my life. I demonstrated my chopping skills, only to have someone copy me and promptly slice their finger. Whoops. We made a ridiculous number of wontons (well in excess of the 4000 we were aiming for). With a combo of veggie and pork ones, it was the deep-fried shiitake mushroom ones that completely took my heart. So, so good.

Oh, and I finally got to meet Erica (who is every bit as lovely as her amazing hair colour makes her seem), and she shared her well-honed Wonton-shaping knowledge with me. If that isn’t worth getting rather cold for, I don’t know what is…

I learnt new skills, got to share some of my own skills (if not successfully), I got to see the pure gratitude in people’s eyes when they received our food, and I got to eat some rather delicious noms myself. Thank you Jeremy, School of Wok and Plan Zheroes for such an empowering day!

Old Compton Street in Soho seems to host a good handful of restaurants that I *really* want to visit, and HipChips was no exception. I’d heard about it a while back (okayyyy, I’d heard that you could dip potato crisps into peanut butter…) and it had really piqued my interest. Of course this meant when I was offered the chance to review I just could say no!

They use the “best heritage varieties of potatoes, serving them up delicately fried alongside mind-blowing dips.” You can choose sweet or savoury (or a mix – though as they would be served together I’m not overly convinced this is the way to go) with the sweet being sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Then choose your dips and, well, get dipping.

We went for a Large Sweet box, which comes with 6 dips. The crisps themselves certainly looked good, with various different colours. The cinnamon sugar combo was also extremely moreish – despite some of the crisps being more than a little soft.

The dips were also a mixed bag – out of Peanut Butter & Jam, S’mores, Passionfruit, Chocolate & Salted Caramel, Cheesecake and Blackberry & Liquorice there was two clear favourites, and only another two we really ate. I’d skip the Chocolate & Salted Caramel, as the warm caramel split the cold chocolate dip and just made a not particularly pleasant texture. The Cheesecake was also disappointing, bland and too ‘cheesy.’ Not great. Better was the S’mores, though the menu description of ‘gooey marshmallow’ is overselling it when it’s simply chocolate with mini-marshmallows on top. Blowtorch ’em please!

Blackberry & Liquorice was good when eaten with a spoon, not so much on a chip. However the Passionfruit and Peanut Butter with Jam were both winners. Passionfruit was sharp and fruity. Peanut Butter had the perfect salty-sweet kick and the punchy jam just made it better. I’d have been happy with several pots of both!

The savoury dips sounded good, but I felt a bit limited with the tomato-free options and, having devoured a satay chicken at Leon, was in the mood for something sweet. Even so, as I ate I found myself wishing I wasn’t in the (very modern and just a little quirky) restaurant, but rather at home, in my PJs, watching a film. And that’s what sums up my review of HipChips. The food was okay, some bits we ate were great, but as an eat-in concept I’m not 100% sure it works. If only I was in their delivery range!

*I was gifted a voucher for HipChips in exchange for an honest review – and as always all opinions are my own (or my fiances!)

I’d wanted to visit Duck & Waffle for aggessss. I poured over the Instagram photos, quizzed friends who had been – hell it even made it on my London Bucket List (which I really must make more of an effort to tick off!). Luckily someone listened to my whining and Santa surprised me with a voucher in my stocking last Christmas, though despite this it was still July before we headed up to the 40-something floor in the heart of the City.

It was pretty difficult to book in for a weekend breakfast. I checked most days for a good month before I found a date that didn’t clash with pre-made plans, exams or deadlines, and still booked a couple of months in advance. Turns out my planning was excellent – it ended up being the day after W handed in his dissertation, and two days after I found out I’d passed April’s exam (the relief is still there!). So we celebrated with a two course brunch, though passing on the alcohol as numerous bubbles had been consumed in the days previous!

Tea ordered (though still the permanent confusion when presented with two pots and no indication of which was the Earl Grey and which was ‘normal’), it didn’t take us long to decide on our ‘mains’ – we both went for the Duck & Waffle. Neither of us could resist trying the signature dish, although we were tempted by the Full English (him) and the Duck Egg en Cocotte (me).

A toasted waffle, topped with a succulent confit duck leg, capped with an oozing duck egg and a side pot of mustard maple syrup, the Duck & Waffle is a combination of flavours and textures that really just have to be tried. Whilst my waffle was pretty perfect (slightly sweet, soft but with a slightly toasted crunch) I’ve hear reviews of stales ones, particularly those who go later in the day. The duck leg was super-crispy on the outer, with soft fall-apart flesh within. I spent ten or so minutes wishing it was acceptable to pick up and knaw on a bone in public, I didn’t want to waste a single bit of meat. The duck egg was again perfectly cooked with a *just* set white and gooey yolk. The mustard maple syrup was verging on too sweet for me with everything else, I’d possibly want more mustard coming through, but I did enjoy it drizzled on lightly. Plus I got the converted drizzle shot…

Our ‘pudding’ was to share a sweet waffle, and it did take flipping a coin to decide which! We went for the Caramelised Banana, which came with homemade hazelnut & chocolate spread, vanilla ice cream and peanut crunch. We loved it – the bananas were warm and gooey, encrusted in a thick brulee sugar topping. The ice-cream was super-cream, the chocolate spread rich. Our only criticism was there was not nearly enough of the peanut crunch.

Oh, and we had to spend the rest of the day lying down in a food coma…

All in all, it was pretty damn good. Pricey, but worth it for a special occasion. The views were gorgeous, the interiors rather Instagrammable and the iconic Duck & Waffle dish was delicious. That said, the menu at Duck & Waffle Local looks a little bit more adventurous (that duck burger!) so I know where I’ll be heading next…

*Note that this is not a sponsored review – my parents kindly got us a gift voucher for last Christmas, and we paid the difference ourselves.

Blåbär is one of my favourite little spots I’ve found in Putney. Hidden away down a pretty unassuming (read: quite grimy) road off the High Street, it’s somewhere that I could spend a good couple of hours in despite it’s teeny-tiny size.

It’s both a small cafe and a boutique, and I’m not lying when I say I could buy literally everything they stock. From gorgeous candles to the softest blankets, stylish light fittings to cushions that are just so me, there’s always something new to add to my wishlist.

And of course, it helps that their menu is on point too. So far I’ve only popped in (possibly far too often) for a drink and a sweet treat, but it’s still made it’s way up to the top of my list in Putney. Their hot chocolate is quite simply one of the best I’ve ever had. It’s not thick and super-chocolatey (because this gal isn’t a huge fan of hot chocolate like that!), it’s light, frothy, milky and rich without being overwelming. But it’s the cinnamon buns that *really* bring me to this place. Termed “possibly the best in Putney,” they’re certainly the best I’ve tried – and that includes my homemade ones! Soft without being doughy, sticky but not sickly, and intensely spiced. The only other thing I can say is that you should really get yourselves to Putney and try one!

Now I’ve just got to head back and try their brunch menu. The vegan pancake stack sounds all kinds of delicious…

I’m not going to lie, finding out this place existed pretty much sealed the deal for me on where I wanted to live in London. I’m only half joking – we’d narrowed it down to somewhere on the West-end of the District line and then this place came to my attention. Putney it was!

(The cheaper council tax also helped…)

Weirdly, I’ve only been twice – and those two visits were shamefully within six days of each other. W is yet to visit (much to his disgust). It’s a shame it’s coming up to summer time now, as pies aren’t exactly going to help me get my summer bod this year!

The first time I visited I had the Chicken & Ham Hock Pot Pie, whilst my date (the lovely Libby) enjoyed her Steak & Ale Pie. My pie was in a deep, fully-filled bowl topped with buttery short-crust pastry and served with creamy mash. The sauce was light, almost-stock like, but full of flavour. There was plenty of chunky chicken and ham, along with carrots and leeks. The mash was smooth and completely lump-free. All in all delicious!

On my next visit I enjoyed the Pork and Apple Pie. Fully encased in the same perfect pastry, it was packed full of juicy pork, bacon, apple pieces and a delicious cider sauce. The only criticism I have here is that it was a little dry – however as I was unable to have the gravy (damn you, sneaky tomatoes!) this is probably why. My mum enjoyed the Beef Bourguignon Pie with triple cooked chips. I have to say the chips were perfect!

Both times we had a side of Season Veg – normally I wouldn’t bother mentioning something like this, but it was lovely. Everything was perfectly cooked and lightly dressed in butter. Little touches but it made all the difference. On the second visit we also splurged and shared the Brownie with ice-cream – and it was a damn good brownie. Warm and gooey, rich and indulgent tempered with creamy ice-cream and a salted caramel sauce.

Coupled with some of the yummiest prosecco I’ve tried, this was a meal of pie perfection. I’m almost impatient for Autumn when it’s back to pie weather!